Authorizing the Mayor to submit to the Institute of Museum Services a grant application for general operating support monies for Discovery Hall

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IV. Population Served To what extent does the museum serve persons who otherwise have limited access to the type of services which it provides? In the answer, the applicant should discuss the uniqueness of its museum's services to its community and describe the social, cultural, and economic characteristics of the population served. In addition, the applicant should describe the level and quality of the museum's efforts to serve special constituencies or interest groups in its community, and describe how the museum addresses the needs and interests of the general public. Discovery Hall Museum is a museum of the industrial history of the South Bend area. This history includes the story of large corporations and small enterprises and the people, from the entrepreneurs to the immigrants who manned the machines, who made it happen. As such,Discovery Hall is an unusual type of local history museum. It addresses the community's essential reason for being -- its industrial growth and development. This story has, until now, not been told very effectively. The Northern Indiana Historical Society does not have the space to adequately collect and exhibit the large artifacts associated with this industrial history. Yet much of this history is very close to the experiences of a large part of South Bend's population. Most of South Bend's population came here because there was work here. Factories dominate many areas of town. Discovery Hall's exhibits and programs relate an im- portant part of South Bend's history -- a story that should have meaning for most of its residents. The museum's exhibits, collections and archives are not just unique to this community, but can serve visitors from outside the community by offering insights to what is not just South Bend's past, but the past of most industrial communities. Discovery Hall is located in South Bend, Indiana a city of 125,000 people. The Northern Indiana - Southwestern Michigan area surrounding South Bend has a popu- lation of about 800,000. This area is a combination of rural and urban with manu- facturing industries of all types located in the area. South Bend /Mishawaka has a large and cohesive ethnic population with Polish, Hungarian, Belgian,and Italian groups predominating. Several colleges and universities are located here, the largest being Notre Dame and Indiana University at South Bend. South Bend is located on the northern Indiana Toll Road, the major East -West route between Chicago and Cleveland. The University of Notre Dame attracts out -of -town visitors year - round. And Discovery Hall is located in Century Center which served 200 conventions (May be continued on following page) 17